Seireitei on Strike
by RedRosa1
Summary: It started in squad four. At the time it was a shock; no-one had ever imagined the meek and gentle healers of squad four would be capable of causing so much mayhem. In retrospect it was inevitable. Rated T for swearing in later chapters
1. Squad 4's Bad Day

**Chapter 1- Squad Four's bad day**

**AN- the concept of ownership is fundamentally flawed, therefore I own nothing and neither does anyone else (I wouldn't own bleach even if ownership was more than an abstract concept thought up by people who own things)**

It started in squad four. At the time it was a shock; no-one had ever imagined the meek and gentle healers of squad four would be capable of causing so much mayhem. In retrospect it was inevitable.

It all began in a bar; it had been a particularly bad day for squad four. It was the day after Kenpachi Zaraki's birthday, so not only had they been forced to spend the entire morning treating the hangovers of less than appreciative squad eleven members, but squad eleven barracks as well as all other buildings in the vicinity had been trashed and guess who had to clean it all up. That's right squad four. It's not like they had nothing better to do, with a whole load of seriously injured squad six members to treat for hollow poisoning and emergency surgery for a couple of squad twelve's more unfortunate experimental subjects. No-one ever seemed to appreciate the fact that squad four was one of the hardest working squads in the Seretei. Instead all anyone seemed to do was mock them and call them weaklings who were too afraid to fight. It had been a particularly bad day and so, at the end of their shift, a number of squad four members found themselves in a bar trying to blow off steam.

"F*cking squad eleven. If they can't deal with their own f*cking hangovers they should f*cking well join the AA"

"Do you know that one of them actually said to my face that I don't do any useful work in the Seiretei?"

"He did NOT!"

"His exact words were "Ahh now I know why we keep useless weaklings like you around in the seiretei. If we didn't we'd have to go to squad twelve for our hangover cures"

"Bastard. We do a damn sight more work than they do around here, they basically just lounge around drinking and causing trouble most of the time until they get bored and go on a massive hollow killing spree that impresses the head captain. They don't have a clue what it's like to pull an all nighter watching critically injured patients and then just as you're trying to drag yourself back to bed be shanghaied by a bunch of squad eleven members who want you to clean their toilets. We do all the menial chores in the Seiretei, on top of our medical duties and what's more we get constantly harassed and verbally abused while doing it. Without us the whole Seiretei would fall apart and I for one have had enough" There was a rumble of agreement from everyone present. Then the nervous voice of seventh seat Hanataro Yamada piped up

"I have an idea"

There was a brief silence, then an unseated female shinigami, said cautiously "Go on"

"Well, I was thinking, that if we formed a union and went on strike, we might be able to teach the rest of Seiretei a lesson."

"What's a union, and what do you mean by strike?" the female shinigami who had spoken up before asked.

"Well…" he paused, unable to remember her name "Rika" she reminded him, "I just graduated from the academy a couple of months ago"

"Thank you Rika, basically a union is an association of workers, that supports its members when their superiors treat them unfairly and uses collective bargaining to get better pay and conditions. A strike is basically when all members of the union agree to refuse to work until their demands are met" His normally timid expression was altered by an evil looking grin. "If we're really that useless then they shouldn't mind if we take a few days off, if not, well then, they can start being properly appreciative of the work we do." The assembled shinigami shuddered slightly at this new side of their Seventh seat.

"How do you know all this stuff?" the Fifth seat asked curiously, "no-one ever told us about any of this in the academy"

"You remember when I was posted in the world of the living? Well while I was there I got a job, and I picked up on some stuff." There was a pause.

"Well I'm in" ninth seat Ryuu Kurotsuchi (definitely no relation) said, quickly followed by a flurry of agreements.

"Well if tomorrow we sound out the rest of the squad about forming a union, and then meet back here to elect a strike committee, then we should be able to go on strike by Monday." Hanataro declared with new found confidence. "Meeting adjourned"

**A/N this is just the beginning, watch how it escalates**


	2. The strike committee

**Chapter 2- the strike committee**

**AN- this is probably going to have quite short chapters, but I'll probably be updating it fairly often so it could be worse. **

**BTW- yay my first ever reviews =)**

**Saria19- Unohana probably isn't going to be supportive, just because I think the captains on the whole need to be opposed to the idea, and because she's quite close to the head captain, who is not going to be pleased. I agree everything will fall apart fairly quickly without squad 4 though.**

**I own nothing, no-one owns anything, copyright is a fictional concept with less basis in reality than this story.**

The next day Hanataro was staring in shock at the results of the vote. He'd been elected head of the strike committee.

"Th there must be some mistake. Why would anyone vote for me?"

"It's quite simple really Chief Organiser Yamada" drawled Rika who had been voted head of communications "This was all your idea". Hanataro had a sinking feeling he was going to get in trouble for this. Recruitment had been a massive success with nearly everyone from the Lieutenant down choosing to join the union, and something told him that the central 46 would not be pleased with the person that thought of all this. Still he was in this deep already, so he might as well go all the way, besides he was fed up with being viewed as a useless weakling by the other squads. It was time to show them just how powerful squad four really was.

"So what do we do now" asked Lieutenant Isane

"We have to draw up a list of demands and send them to the Head Captain" replied Hanatoro, "Has anyone got any suggestions?"

After a great deal of argument and negotiation they came up with a list

_1. Working hours of squad four members to be limited to eight hours per day_

_2. The only people allowed to give orders to a member of Squad four are fellow members of Squad Four _

_3. A 4% pay increase for all squad four members_

_4. A 20% increase in the squad four budget to fund the acquisition of new medical equipment and the renovation of the squad four cafeteria_

_5. A public apology to be issued by Squad eleven to squad four for failing to respect the contributions and hard work of squad four members and harassing squad four members while on duty._

"Ok now we just have to decide who is going to take this to the head captain" Hanataro said brightly "Do we have any volunteers?"

There was a brief shuffling as people tried not to look too conspicuous, until someone suggested that they just hand it in with the paperwork. That way no-one would be left alone to face the head captain's wrath.

Hanataro sighed and agreed to hand it in with his weekly report that day.

The next day the Head Captain looked in disbelief at the piece of paper that his Lieutenant had handed to him.

"What on earth is squad four doing?" He demanded

"I understand they have formed a Trade Union, sir" his lieutenant replied

"Unacceptable. Call a captains meeting at once, and inform captain Unohana that I expect to see her before the meeting"

here...


	3. The picket line

**A/N- sorry this chapter's kind of short, but on the other hand I promise that next chapter will be slightly more substantial and describe the consequances of the strike**

**I own nothing, no-one owns anything, ownership is an imaginary concept thought up by the illuminati lizard alien demon spirits who want to eat your brains. Do not let them win!**

**Chapter 3- The picket line**

_By the day of the strike it was clear that the Head captain was not going to give in to their demands. In fact the Head Captain was furious at the very idea of the union and Central 46 had declared that any squad member participating in strike action would be dealt with as a criminal. This further motivated the unionists and so on the Monday after the first meeting Squad four went on strike. Central 46 did not see this coming._

Hanataro was busy trying to set up his first ever picket line. It didn't help that everyone seemed to think he was an expert on the subject. He didn't have the heart to tell them that he had never actually been on strike before and only had a basic theoretical knowledge of what to do. He knew there was supposed to be a picket line, but he wasn't sure how you were meant to make that effective when faced with the terrifying concept of Captain Unohana smiling ad asking politely "What exactly do you think you're doing"

He was on his own with this one since half of the picketers were arguing over slogans while the other half were busy making placards with felt tips and bits of cardboard (he still wasn't sure where the cardboard came from, he'd never seen it in the soul society before).

"Well Captain, we're picketing"

"And what does that entail" Hanataro was about ready to wet himself

"It means that we stand outside our workplace and try and convince people not to scab"

"Scab?" She raised her eyebrows

"It's what you call people who go into work when everyone else is on strike. It's one of the worst things you can do, it undermines everyone else's ability to negotiate better pay and conditions."

"So would you call me a scab"

"Um, I didn't say that" Luckily at this point a group of fellow picketers came over and started chanting

"One two three four, everyone respect squad four" Hanataro wanted to sink into the pavement. He made a mental note to assign someone to come up with some better slogans.

"Well, it's been wonderful talking to you Hanataro" the Captain's eye's glinted with sinister intent. "I must go to work now, with all of you taking an unsanctioned vacation I'm sure I will be very busy. Hopefully this strike will not continue for too long. Once you give up on this silly endeavour I'm sure we will have much to discuss" Hanataro gulped, the message was clear, not only did the ruling forces in the Seiretei expect the strikers to give in, they planned to show no mercy to the ringleaders once this was over. He stood up straighter, well then he'd best make sure they didn't lose. He was in too deep to give up now, if the strikers lost he was toast. Oh well, he'd never really allowed fear, or the opinions of those in charge to dictate his actions. After all he'd helped the Substitute Soul reaper Ichigo Kurosaki, invade the Soul Society and had attempted to go up against Captain Kuchiki to save Rukia. He might not be the fiercest fighter, but he was perfectly capable of standing up for what he believed in. The same held true for the rest of his squad, and now he came to think about it most of the unseated Shingami in the Seiretei. This strike was actually long overdue, the Captains, and Central 46 needed to be shown that just because the individually the Captains were more powerful than ordinary Shinigami, that didn't mean that the rest of them could be walked all over. All of them had power, all of them were vital to the working of the Seiretei, and if they worked together, they could bring the place to its knees. He grinned in a way that sent shivers down the spines of those watching. Yes, if that was how the Head Captain wanted to play it, then that's how they would play it. They were going to shake the Soul Society to its very roots. This was going to be deeply satisfying.


	4. Chaos

**A/N I own nothing, all property is theft blah blah you know the drill**

**I'm afraid Shunsui and Jushiro came across as a bit more manipulative and cynical than I intended but oh well i'm sure everyone can live with it.**

**Chapter 4- Chaos**

The strike had been going on for a week and all across the Seiretei, the squads were starting to realize just how much they depended on squad four.

In the Squad six barracks, Captain Kuchiki was on the verge of losing the emotionless façade, he was so proud of. "I don't care how you do it Lieutenant Abarai, just deal with it. A noble of the Kuchiki Clan does not tolerate mud all over the floor of his barracks."

"But Captain, with squad four on strike there is no-one to clean it up."

"Do not make me repeat myself Lieutenant. I said deal with it."

"Yes Captain", Renji replied miserably, before heading off in search of some new recruits he could bully into cleaning up. The trouble was, there was only so much he could pressure them into doing without damaging the efficiency of the unit as a whole, and if that happened he'd get it in the neck from Captain Kuchiki. Then again he'd also get it in the neck if he didn't get the place cleaned up and he had too much paperwork to do it himself. (besides he hated cleaning). The words rock and hard place kept popping into his mind, and he felt an incipient headache coming on. Maybe those guys in fourth had the right idea, he certainly felt like he deserved a pay rise.

Meanwhile in the twelfth, Ikkaku Madarame of the eleventh squad and Lieutenant Iba of the seventh were starting to have second thoughts. It had seemed like a brilliant idea, when they woke up with blinding headaches from a particularly enthusiastic drinking contest, but now looking at the crazed look in the eyes of the squad 12 Captain as he wielded a worrying syringe of bubbling green hangover cure, they decided they'd be better off making a run for it and drowning their hangover in strong coffee. Half an hour later as they hid in a coffee shop from the crazy squad twelve Captain and his disturbingly emotionless lieutenant, they asked each other how they could have been brought so low just by losing access to Squad four's hangover cures.

Over in Squad eleven Captain Zaraki had to admit he was impressed. Who would have thought such seemingly weak and helpless healers could cause so much mayhem and destruction simply by doing nothing? Squad eleven's barracks were in pieces from a fight he'd had earlier in the week, and it looked like no-one was going to be doing any repairs any time soon. Still more serious, it appeared his Seventh seat had managed to render the toilets unusable after last night's curry eating contest, and with no-one from squad four prepared to sort it out his squad members had been resorting to invading the toilets of next door squad ten. Captain Hitsugaya had just sent his eighth angry hell butterfly of the day, this time stating in no uncertain terms that the next squad eleven member to be caught trying to use the squad ten bathrooms would be turned into a giant ice cube and then sent to the world of the living to keep the polar bears happy. Yes, the mayhem squad four had managed to cause was pretty impressive, he grinned manically. If he was really lucky this situation might land him a fight with captain Hitsugaya, and a combination of admiration for the havoc they'd caused and delight that he might get a decent fight made his respect for squad four climb several notches.

Later on in the eighth division, Captain's Ukitake and Kyoraku were sharing a bottle of sake.

Shunsui broke the initial silence "So what do you think of this strike thing then", he drawled. "It seems like it's only going to get messy doesn't it?"

Jushiro pensively agreed "I suspect that this really isn't going to be something we want to be involved with"

Shunsui raised his eyebrows, surprised at his friend's open admission. "I'm shocked at you Juu. Are you suggesting we slack off our duties as Captains? Isn't that my job?"

"I can see where all this is heading Shunsui, and I don't want to touch this business with a ten foot pole. If we side against the Head Captain we'll be in major trouble, and could cause this whole thing to escalate to a disturbing level. If we side with the head captain I'm pretty sure most of the soul society will end up hating us with the levels of sympathy the strikers are gaining, and I'm pretty sure we'd lose anyway. The best thing we can do, for our own positions and for the sake of trying to keep this whole thing calm, is to stay out of it"

"I see", Shunsui mused "So basically we sit back and watch how the cards fall, so no matter who wins, we are unaffected."

"That's right. It shouldn't be too hard for the two of us to take a back seat. I'll fake a bout of illness, it's not like that would seem particularly out of place, and doubt anyone would be surprised if you were to find yourself ahem occupied in some of the more disreputable pubs in the soul society. If you give your lieutenant a holiday no-one will be able to find you."

"Sounds like a plan. If I start finding myself some entertainment tomorrow morning, and you get sick in the afternoon no-one will wonder why I'm out drinking instead of helping you. They'll just assume I haven't heard." He raised a glass "A toast, old friend, to avoiding work and staying neutral"

**A/N next chapter, more people join the strike. Bonus points for guessing which squad is up next.**


	5. Squad twelve strikes back

**AN- points go to whoever it was that guess squad twelve, but don't worry anyone who was hoping to have Byakuya taken down a notch, squad six will join them too, and hopefully most of the seireitei eventually. **

**I know Jushiro and Shunsui would probably play mediators but that would get in the way of things escalating and I want them to escalate. Besides i reckon they're kinda too close to the head captain to be seen supporting the strikers in any meaningful way. I've got it as they sympathise but they know that if they get involved they'll probably only make it worse.**

**BTW I need names for support characters (there just aren't enough canon low ranked characters in each squad, and I need people to have conversations not just monologues. I'm probably going to have to resort to having liutenents leading the stike action in some squads.)**

**Oh and I declare ownership a non-existant concept thing therefore I have no ownership of Bleach, but I am free to mess around with it if I want to. (BTW if you try and use this excuse in shops security people throw you out)**

**Chapter 5- Squad Twelve strikes back**

Three weeks in and not only had squad four managed to bring the Seiretei to its knees, but the effectiveness of their tactics had been giving certain other people ideas. It probably wasn't surprising that squad twelve was the next to decide they'd had enough.

The squad twelve union was formed in the office. It was late and most of the members of squad twelve were pulling an all nighter catching up on paperwork thanks to a rare lull in the lab work the captain piled on them. Surprisingly enough it was Rin Tsubokura, who first brought up the strike. He was close friends with Hanataro since their trip to the world of the living, and so he was fairly up to date with all the strikers' developments.

"You know if we went on strike like squad four we wouldn't have to do all this paperwork" he yawned. "You know we could even ask for a guarantee that Captain Kurotsuchi wouldn't be allowed to dissect us or conduct any form of life threatening experiments without signed permission."

His semi casual statement stopped everyone in their tracks, suddenly you could hear the sounds of highly caffeinated, very intelligent brains whirring as the squad twelve boffins considered the possibilities. After the idea had a moment to sink in Akon ventured a thought

"We could ask for overtime pay, couldn't we? Or a pay rise." All across the room a series of grins copied straight from Captain Kurotsuchi after acquiring a new specimen appeared on the faces of the squad members. Suddenly the idea had gone from idle speculation to a plan. One Shinigami pointed out

"If Captain Kurotsuchi gets wind of this before we start he'll dissect us and feed us to his creations"

"Hmm that's true."Akon mused "In that case we should start now, before he wakes up. I nominate Rin as head of the Strike Committee. He gets on well with Hanataro and that should make it easier to co-ordinate strike action. All votes for." Nearly every hand went up, they didn't want to risk getting nominated for the position that would be top to their Captains hit list, Rin was as good a sacrificial lamb as any. Besides what Akon said was true, Rin did get on well with Yamada. "Ok I think we can safely say the motion is carried"

Rin looked up bleary eyed he clearly needed more coffee to process this "Wha-a-at? Me? But I'm useless."

"No you do a very good impression of useless so that no-one expects you to do any work and you can just sit around eating donuts all day. When you actually want to do something you're fine, hence why you're so good at baking.

Rin sighed, he suspected it was useless to argue "All right, but if I have to be head of the committee, then you have to be in charge of strategy and communications."

Akon choked on his coffee, he supposed he had kinda set himself up for that. He had drawn too much attention to himself by talking. Still he supposed if anyone was going to do it, it might as well be him, they were all doomed anyway if they didn't win. He sincerely doubted there'd be anything left to feed to the Captain's genetically enhanced super piranhas, after the Head Captain and Central 46 were done with them.

"Well in that case, I suggest we start setting up a kido reinforced picket line now. Hopefully we'll be properly set up before the Captain arrives." Akon decided decisiveness was the best way to move forward.

Rin took a less aggressive but somehow no less persuasive tack. "I think it might be a good idea to send someone over to squad four to tell them what's going on and ask for advice. There's no point repeating the same mistakes they made, and it'll set a good precedent for us to co-ordinate with each other." He grinned cheekily "And I want whoever's manning the security cameras to record Hanataro's expression when he hears what we're doing." There was a brief pause

"Well you heard the chief, get cracking" Akon snapped them out of their reverie. Suddenly the whole place was buzzing with activity.

The next morning Captain Kurotsuchi arrived at work, on time as usual, to find all of his subordinates on strike and wielding placards with slogans such as "No experimentation without explanation" and "We're overworked and underpaid, Kurotsuchi be afraid". His strangled screams of rage could be heard across the Seireitei.

"How DARE they. I will experiment on them and dissect them until they can't scream anymore and the I will feed them to my genetically enhanced piranhas. BANKAI!"

Luckily the experimental kido barrier they were using held up well against the Captain's bankai, it had been specially designed the night before for a large number of weaker opponents to use against a stronger one and they had been slightly worried it might blow up in their faces. Rin was delighted to see it work so well and quickly made a note to send Hanataro instructions on how to use it, just in case squad four ran into similar problems.

After Captain Kurotsuchi passed out from sheer rage and his Lieutenant took him back to his quarters before promptly joining the picket line, squad twelve settled in for the long haul.


	6. Solidarity

**AN- I don't own bleack, ownership is a symptom of a diseased society**

**ok I kinda lost control of this chapter. Some stuff ended up happening that i did not expect, but i think it kinda works. Anyway have fun**

**Chapter 6- Solidarity**

The head Captain was extremely concerned. This had gone far beyond his predictions, and worse, it looked like it was gathering momentum. He had expected squad four to get over this childishness within a few days, instead they'd been going strong for three weeks and worse it now looked like the strike was spreading. This was no longer an isolated incident, this was a direct challenge to his authority and it must be stopped, and wait… what was that smell. F*cking hell had anyone even been emptying the bins with squad four out of commission? He yelled for his Lieutenant.

"What is the problem Captain?"

"The problem is those bloody strikers. They should have given up by now. I want them dealt with immediately!". It seemed like the squad one captain was in a bad mood.

"Before we do anything extreme, Captain, remember that for the three weeks they've been on strike they've had no pay. At some point probably fairly soon, they'll run out of money and be forced to return to work so they can buy food." Lieutenant Sasakibe tried to calm his Captain before a fire related disaster destroyed the barracks. With no repair crews they'd be reduced to sleeping in tents and that thought really did not appeal.

"Hmmm You're right. Very well, we will wait them out. But in the meantime can you get someone to deal with the f*cking bins, it stinks in here." The lieutenant breathed a sigh of relief. Crisis averted, for now. He had a feeling this wasn't over.

Over at squad four's picket line the squad one lieutenant's words were proving pretty accurate. Everyone was running low on funds and Hanataro had been forced to call an emergency meeting to deal with the crisis.

"Right, you all know why we're here. By my calculations even if we all pool our funds together and buy cheap food to share, we're going to be out of cash within the week." At his dire pronouncement all eyes turned to look at him.

"So now what do we do?" A nervous young recruit asked

"I vote we give up" declared fourteenth seat Kensuke Nakajima, "If we surrender now maybe they'll go easy on us, and at least we won't all be completely broke. We should never have got involved in this in the first place"

"I agree" his friend Kamui Ishiguro growled. "In fact this is all your fault Yamada. If you hadn't suggested we go on strike we wouldn't be in this mess."

Hanataro was visibly shrinking, his new found confidence not up to facing attacks from the people he thought supported him. Lieutenant Isane intervened.

"I think that's a bit unfair. No-one forced you to join the union, no-one forced you to go on strike. I know you want the same things as we do, are you really going to back down out of fear? We squad four members have been walked all over for our entire working lives. Hanataro told us about a way we can change that, and now you're attacking him because you are too weak to see this through to the end."

The two dissenters looked a little shamefaced at that but Kensuke spoke up again anyway, saying "That doesn't change the fact that no-one has any solution to the money situation. I'm just being realistic here. I want to win too, but if we're going to lose anyway we're better off backing down now."

The squad twelve representative, who had been sent to aid co-ordination between the two unions took this opportunity to make a suggestion "We haven't been on strike for as long as you, so we have a bit more cash. We can send you solidarity money to help keep you going. After all we both have a better chance of winning with each other's support than if we were on strike alone."

"That's a very generous offer. Are you sure about this?" Hanataro was touched by squad twelve's generosity.

"This isn't charity. If we give you solidarity you can stay on strike longer. That increases the effectiveness of our strike. The more people are on strike at any one time the more chaos is caused. Besides, maybe next time we'll be the ones needing you're support, what comes around goes around and all that. We'll share our strike funds with you, if it'll help you stay on strike longer."

Later on as rumours about the striker's financial troubles spread, others who weren't even on strike yet, felt inspired to make a contribution. Clandestine collection boxes were passed around the barrack of squads one, six, seven, and ten hidden from the watchful eyes of their captains, while in squads three and nine the lieutenants set up semi official solidarity funds that their members were free to contribute to. In squads eleven and five albeit for very different reasons, no-one particularly cared what the members were doing, therefore they were free not only to contribute to the strike fund but also to help out in a more hands on way. As long as his members showed up for training Captain Zaraki was perfectly happy for his members to spend their free time expressing their newfound respect for squad four by beating up anyone who looked like they might cause them trouble. While in squad five the absence of a Captain or functional Lieutenant meant the members had been pretty much left too their own devices. A group of squad five members had started an organic vegetable garden and chicken farm in their training grounds, and were using the produce to cook for the strikers. A worrying number of them had also discovered some interesting side effects of some of the plants they'd been growing, and had subsequently been caught wearing tie-dye and playing acoustic guitar. So far none of the stricter captains had heard about the goings on in squad five, but Captain Kyoraku had been spotted raiding their "herb" garden, before disappearing again. To be honest most of squad four found five a bit worrying at this point, they were grateful for the homemade cooking and everything, but they were just a bit well, weird. Some members of Squad twelve saw squad five's new attitude as a wonderful opportunity and sold them large quantities of experimental hallucinogens. Who would have guessed they could actually get people to pay to act as their guinea pigs. After the first couple of casualties squad four made them stop. If the captains found out about squad fives new hobbies they would shut them down and eggs for breakfast would be a thing of the past. Squad five would have to stick to organic entertainment, rather than playing with squad twelve's experiments.

With the combining of squad four and twelve's strike funds and the support from the rank and file of other divisions, the financial problems that had troubled the strikers were no longer an issue. It would take more than just running out of money to break this strike.

**Yes I made squad five hippies, i don't know why I didn't mean to, it just happened. You've got to admit its a brilliant image though. Aizans old squad wandering round in tie-dye shihakshous, smoking weed and demanding vegetable rights and peace man. Sort of poetic justice.**


	7. Escalation

**AN I don't own bleach, or anything else, I have discarded worldly possesions and am one with the universe (ok probably not, but i definately don't own bleach)**

**Is it slightly worrying that I find most of my inspiration when I've stayed up far too late?**

**Chapter 7 – Escalation**

It was during week four that the shit really started to hit the fan. By the end of the week the only squads still fully under the control of the head captain and central 46 were squads two and one. Squads three, six, nine and ten had all joined the strike, squads seven and thirteen were refusing to cross picket lines or in any way limit the impact of the strike, and as for squad five well they seemed to have dropped out of the soul society. Recent reports mentioned a worrying concentration of acoustic guitars, and there were rumours that a stage was being set up. By this point not even the stealth force wanted to know what they were planning.

Squad six had been the third squad to join the strike; surprisingly it was the Lieutenant who had instigated the walkout. Then again, considering the captain's attitude towards his Lieutenant maybe it wasn't so surprising. It was the Tuesday of the fourth week of the strike that Lieutenant Abarai finally snapped, he had just finished giving a report to the Captain and was hoping for a little acknowledgement of a job well done. No such luck.

"Lieutenant Abarai, I am most disappointed in you. I expect my Lieutenant to be able to handle any situation efficiently and effectively and yet in the face of the simple absence of squad four, you have allowed the barracks to fall to rack and ruin. Not to mention the fact that the entire squad seems to be unable to locate hollows in the absence of squad twelve's technical support. I would expect my squad to be able to operate efficiently in the face of adversity and yet at the slightest obstacle we allow our barracks to decline into this abominable state, you are all a disgrace to your squad. Especially you Lieutenant, I hold you responsible for the shambles our squad has become."

Renjii reined in his temper with some difficulty "With all due respect Captain the problems with finding hollows without the twelfth's technical support are an issue in all active squads, our squad has actually been dealing with the problem a lot better than most other squads, and I think you may be exaggerating the state of the barracks just a bit. They aren't that bad, squad eleven are stuck sleeping in tents."

"I suppose given your background this wouldn't seem so bad. After all dogs from the lower rukon cannot be expected to understand the importance of hygiene and cleanliness. I suppose the filth helps you feel at home, after all someone like you can't be expected to understand the importance of standards" An utter silence fell over the whole squad. That was crossing the line, the Captain made a habit of being rude and arrogant but there were some things you just could not say. Renji stood up and spoke out clearly, his voice full of barely contained anger.

"Right, I've had it, if you're so much better than me let's see how well you do without me. I'm going on strike. Who's with me?" There was a roar of agreement across the squad. They were all sick and tired of their Captain's attitude. Byakuya Kuchiki was going down. When Renji walked out the door the entire squad followed him. He stopped outside.

"Right so, now what do we do."

After sending a message to Hanataro asking for advice they settled down to forming a picket line.

Squads three and nine were drawn in by squad six. Lieutenants Hisagi and Kira were drinking buddies of Renji , and the evening after squad six's dramatic walkout they had met up in their usual bar to talk.

"So Renji, I heard you joined the strike" Shuhei asked in a mildly curious tone

"Damn right I have. It's time for Captain bloody I'm so perfect and superior Kuchiki to be taken down a peg or two. He needs to realize, how much he depends on us. The two of you are proof that squads can function without their captains but I highly doubt captains can function without their squads."

"Someone's a bit bitter Renji" Izuru noted, "he must have said something pretty bad to make you this pissed off"

"First off he ignores the efforts I've been making to keep the squad functioning despite the difficulties, then he has the gall to say that I've allowed the barracks to get a bit messy because lowly dogs from the rukon have no standards."

"He actually said that? To your face?" Shuhei was shocked. Even by Byakuya standards that was bad.

"In front of the whole fucking division no less", Renji downed his drink and then grinned widely, "He soon regretted that though, the rest of the squad was so pissed off by what he said they all decided to join me on strike."

"Still, it might have felt good in the heat of the moment but do you actually intend to achieve with this strike" Kira couldn't help asking.

"We've got a list of demands drawn up. Besides Captain Kuchiki getting that stick out of his arse we also want a pay rise, more holidays, and a reduction in unnecessary paperwork."

"That actually sounds pretty appealing" Shuhei remarked thoughtfully "Especially the reduced paperwork and the pay rise."

"Why don't you go on strike too? You could ask to be compensated for the extra work you do in absence of a captain." Renji's enthusiasm was contagious.

"Hmm, that's a pretty tempting idea really. I'm up for it." Izuru was surprisingly confidant in his declaration.

"I'm in too. I quite fancy the idea of a bit more spare cash" Shuhei grinned. "I'll talk to my division tomorrow, I suspect they will be delighted with the idea."

"Mine too, they've actually been making hints ever since twelve went on strike. If all goes to plan both our squads will be on strike by the end of tomorrow."

As predicted, squads three and nine were on strike by the end of the very next day.

Squad ten was a holdout, they didn't join the strike until Friday. It wasn't really Captain Hitsugaya's fault. Admittedly his straight laced and humourless approach to the job didn't exactly make work an enjoyable experience, and maybe assigning extra overtime in the middle of a rapidly spreading strike was asking for trouble, but the issue for squad ten members fundamentally boiled down to money and paperwork. In short squad ten felt they did too much work for too little pay, and both pay and workload were strictly under the control of the head captain and central 46. Even Captain Hitsugaya had to admit they might have a point regarding the paperwork, especially since he always seemed to get stuck with his Lieutenant's as well as his own. He was far too straight laced to do anything about it of course, but that didn't stop him secretly hoping some of their demands might be fulfilled. It was of course Lieutenant Matsumoto who led the strike, after all no-one hated paperwork, or loved spending money more than she did. Squad ten's picket line did turn out to be a bit thin on the ground. A worrying number of their members had gone to party with squad five. There were rumours of a music festival being set up. If Rangiku hadn't been in charge of the strike committee she might have joined them, as it was she could only stop by occasionally for a drink and a smoke. As a result of all this squad ten was possibly the best informed on events within squad five's general area, and so they were the ones who discovered the brainwashed Lieutenant of squad five undergoing new age meditation therapy with healing crystals and incense to try and get over her crazy Aizen fixation. The two squad ten members who discovered it, decided it would be best for everyone if they didn't talk about it to the other squads. Some things were just too surreal for anyone who hadn't spent time in five's barracks to appreciate.

**AN- is byakuya a bit ooc, I don't think it's too far fetched for him to say those things considering the things he said to renji in the seireitei invasion arc. I got a bit stuck on squad ten so I had them spending some time with the hippies over in five, mainly because i reckon most members of ten can probably enjoy a good party, and would quite happly mooch five's recreational substances.**

**And yes Momo is doing crystal healing meditation, in a tent, with incense. Hey they've tried everything else to fix her brainwashing, and i'm sure her squad would be trying to help her in their own special way.**

**I'm not sure if the next chapter should be about strikebreakers or the newspaper. What do you lot reckon (ok i probably won't listen and just end up doing what I feel like, but at least i asked)**


	8. The SSA

**AN- so because you are all so awesome and keep leaving me such nice and helpful reviews i'm giving you a double update today.**

**meeresstern1983- you are right i totally forgot squad 8. Lets just say they're doing the same as seven and thirteen**

**The random guest who asked about 11- yeah eleven's being generally supportive of the whole thing because they love chaos and think the strikers are tough, and they don't do much work to start with so there's no way they're undermining the strike by doing the strikers work. (also Ichigo will appear at some point but not until towards the end of the fic so don't hold your breath)**

**Everyone else, I love the reviews, reviews bring inspiration, here is your reward.**

**BTW- I don't own bleach and neither does anyone else. (not even the alien lizards)**

**Chapter 8- The SSA**

Hanataro groaned. Why did he keep getting himself into these situations? Was it karma or something? Had he done something really bad while he was alive? Why did everyone keep sticking him into these positions of authority? It wasn't like he looked like prime leadership material. He was a mousy healer who didn't cause trouble (ok maybe he did start a strike that had the seireitei on its knees but that was provoked). He saw his de-facto second in command Rika looking at him.

"If you say something about some having greatness thrust upon them, I swear to all that is sacred in this world I will send you to squad five to help with their new homeopathic healing centre"

"Wouldn't dream of it chief" she suddenly found something else to look at. Hanataro suddenly decided that he quite liked the rush of authority.

"Well go find out why Rin is taking so long, the rest of us are ready to start" At that moment Rin rushed in.

"Sorry I'm late guys but it looks like the new kido we've been working on is fully functional. I'll send someone round to instruct you all in its use later."

"Thank you Rin" Hanataro grinned, he couldn't really bring himself to be angry with Rin "Now that we're all here let's begin the first official meeting of the Seiretei Strikers Association or the SSA. Firstly I would like to offer my thanks to the SWA for allowing us to use their meeting room, and to Squad eleven for making sure we won't be disturbed. As you all know I am your Chairman Hanataro Yamada, seventh seat of squad four and head of the squad four strikers committee, and I would like to thank you all for coming to this meeting to help us better co-ordinate our strike efforts." He looked around the room, seeing Renji representing squad six, Izuru for three, Shuhei for nine, and Rangiku for ten, that plus him and Rin made a total of six out of the thirteen squads on strike. With eleventh being openly supportive and never having done much work to begin with and fifth busy setting up what they promised would be an epic music festival that left five working squads. Out of those five only squads one and two would take on any of the strikers work. The whole seiretei was falling apart. Rubbish was piling up in the streets, and the captains were having to personally deal with all hollow alerts, Captain Kuchiki was looking particularly worse for wear, and there were bets on how long it would be before he fell asleep over his paperwork. Overall Hanataro felt a certain amount of smug satisfaction about the whole thing. Vengeance is sweet.

"To address our first order of business I believe Shuhei has some news about squad seven"

"Yes. As you all know since the whole evil traitor situation happened, me and Captain Komamura have been spending a lot of time together and he told me that he is seriously considering bringing his whole squad out on strike. He muttered something I couldn't quite hear about bloody paperwork and unreasonable working hours and then said that if the strike kept going much longer he'd probably join in." Shuhei was grinning smugly. Everyone knew that he'd probably been working on Komamura for weeks to get him to this point, and his getting someone so loyal to the head captain to consider joining the strike was pretty impressive.

"You mean a Captain is planning on joining the strike" Izuru looked shocked

"Don't look so surprised Izuru, it was really only a matter of time. Plenty of Captains aren't too happy with their jobs either you know." Rangiku smirked "Besides, if you think that's shocking, guess what Captain Hitsugaya's been up to for the last week"

Hanataro looked slightly nervous sometimes you just didn't want to know the gossip Rangiku was spreading. "Is this… relevant?"

"Who cares if it's relevant? I'm curious now. Spill the beans Rangiku." Renji demanded.

"Well I've heard from a very reliable squad member that yesterday they saw Captain Hitsugaya with Lieutenant Hinamori, doing folk dancing" Eveyone's jaws dropped. Rangiku continued, delighted by the reactions she was getting. "And then they saw the two of them sitting around a campfire with a bunch of squad five members singing. Apparently the Captain is quite good on the electric guitar." The whole room was frozen in shock by this point. "And then later that evening he was seen smoking herbal cigars while participating in some sort of crystal healing ceremony with Momo." Everyone sat in stunned disbelief for a moment trying to equate their mental image of the uptight young captain with what they'd just heard. Shuhei was the first to recover.

"Is this widely known?" he enquired an idea beginning to form in his head

"Nope, even I only just found out."

"You know I reckon that is just the sort of thing that would make a good newspaper article. Especially if someone could get pictures."

"Newspaper article? Is this really relevant to a strikers association meeting" Hanataro grumbled

"Well yes, you see I've kind of been thinking. You know how I'm the editor of the seiretei newspaper, well I've been thinking that we really should run a union newspaper. It would help us win support from non-members as well as keeping members informed and giving them a confidence boost."

"That's actually a brilliant idea" Hanataro smiled, he hadn't expected Rangiku's gossip to inspire such a useful plan. He supposed that just went to show you never can tell. "So are you volunteering as editor for this?"

"Sure, but only if Izuru agrees to help me, I've got too much to do and I reckon I'll need someone calm and efficient to make this work out." Izuru nodded his acceptance of the task.

"Ok moving on. Renji, I understand your squad are pretty good at painting and art." Hanataro was keen to move the meeting forward.

Renji looked surprised "Yes, Captain Kuchiki has some odd ideas. Made us all take calligraphy and landscape drawing classes. Why do you ask?"

Hanataro grinned in a way that uncomfortably reminded everyone of his Captain "Well I think that since your squad has expertise in such areas you should be put in charge of all placard and banner making. If we're going to do this lets do this properly."

"Uh Ok" Before he could continue Rukia Kuchiki burst into the room.

"Sorry I'm late, is this the strikers association meeting"

"Um yes, but why are you here? Did your brother send you or something" Hanataro was understandably nervous, after all Rukia was a noble.

"Don't be stupid, why would my brother do that?" she snapped impatiently "I'm here to inform you all that as of ten minutes ago squad thirteen are on strike."

Everyone started taking at once and Rukia had to shout to get them to shut up so she could finish

"I'm also here to inform you all that on our list of demands is the dissolution of central 46, and the institution of full democracy in the Seiretei." That shut them up. You could have heard a pin drop.

"Are you fucking serious" Renji demanded, "There's no way they'll go for that"

"Those that don't ask don't get" Rukia responded tritely

"She has got a point" Izuru mused "and even if they don't give in it gives the whole idea greater validity, meaning it will be easier to achieve in the future."

"I'm not saying I don't see the appeal" Renji muttered "I just don't think we should get our hopes up on that one."

"Well I think it's worth a try idiot, so shut up and be supportive." Rukia shouted back.

"Everyone calm down." Hanataro pleaded "Fighting among ourselves won't do any good", Rukia and Renji both backed down sullenly. "Right I think we've covered enough ground for one meeting and I want to get back to my picket line. How about we meet again tomorrow to cover anything we missed today and give updates"

"Good plan" Rin was always supportive of Hanataro, "Hopefully by tomorrow we'll have some new strike aids to show everyone"

"Ok so by tomorrow I expect squad six to have started work on some banners and Izuru and Shuhei to have an issue of our new newspaper out." Hanataro sometimes wondered if all this authority was going to his head a bit, but someone had to keep this lot on topic. He had to admit the looks of respect he was getting from all these high ranked officers as they filed out was oddly satisfying.


	9. The newspaper

**Ok this is sort of a bonus chapter, it's in the form of a series of newpaper articles, just because I felt like it. BTW If you didn't get it from the last chapter Shuhei is the editor cause he has experience and Izuru is his second in command because he is efficient and Shuhei works well with him. Rangiku does the celebrity interviews because you know it makes sense and yes Toshiro is now a major trendsetting hippie who's been hanging out with squad five because of momo and got converted with the help of herbal smokes and political debate. I know it's kinda ooc but its the kind of ooc that you can kinda picture happening to a teenage toshiro, especially with momo encouraging him.**

**I don't own anything especially not bleach because owning ideas and stories is a silly concept based on money, which is the root of all evil.**

**Chapter 9- The newspaper**

Radical Forces join the Strike!

As week five of the strike dawns, the squad thirteen radicals have decided to make their move. Every member of squad thirteen below the rank of third seat is now on strike with a list of demands that include the abolition of Central 46 and the introduction of trial by jury in the seiretei. When asked for a comment Squad Thirteen Strike Committee leader Rukia Kuchiki simply said "Central 46 is an outdated and oligarchic form of government that has totally lost touch with the people of the soul society, and with the spectacular history of miscarriages of justice that have arisen from the control central 46 has over the courts it is clear that the judicial system is in need of a radical overhaul." When asked to elaborate on the alleged miscarriages of justice perpetrated by central 46 she cited the wrongful conviction of Kisuke Urahara and the visords, as well as the way Captain Hitsugaya was forced to kill his friend simply because they shared the same Zanpakuto. While the committee leader did not mention the subject this publication would also like to note that the current judicial system nearly brought about her own execution and she therefore has good reason to distrust the control central 46 has over the courts. It is still unclear what effect union thirteen's radical demands will have on the attitudes of the head captain and central 46, and the unions wait with bated breath to see how things will pan out.

Mysterious plots in squad one

It has become increasingly difficult over the last week to get any kind of information on what is happening within squad one but the recent increase in secret communications between squad's one and two and the delivery of a number of unmarked boxes to the squad one barracks make it clear that something is afoot. There is no proof but many union leaders fear that head captain Yamamoto is preparing to use strikebreaking tactics from the world of the living in an attempt to undermine our industrial action. Further information will be included in later editions of this publication

The greatest cultural event in Seiretei history?

What's cooking in squad five, here we have Rangiku Matsumoto with an exclusive interview with Toshiro "Cool Shiro" Hitsugaya, on an event that he promises will "rock your afterlife".

Rangiku- "So Captain tell us about what you have planned"

Shiro- "Call me Shiro, calling me Captain just makes me sound like part of the system you know."

Rangiku- "So you don't want to be considered as part of the system then Shiro? "

Shiro- "Nah, the system's broken you know man. I mean if it wasn't broken then that whole Aizen thing wouldn't have happened and Misty wouldn't have ended up in the state she was in."

Rangiku- "Misty?"

Shiro- "She used to be called Momo before she decided to change is to something more in tune with nature. Between you and me I'm not too sure about all this earth mother stuff, but it has done her a lot of good and the rest of what's going on here is really very important. That's why we've decided to organise this festival to try and gather support for change and show people that there are better ways of doing things."

Rangiku- "So tell me about this festival you have planned"

Shiro- "Well the event will take place over three days, we have a whole load of bands playing on three different stages, as well as a series of arts and crafts tents and a series of organised debates on what the soul society should look like in the future. A number of prominent union leaders have agreed to give speeches and there will be alcohol and herbal smokes available at reasonable prices throughout the event. All profits will go towards supporting the strikers and anyone is welcome as long as they have an open mind and are prepared to have fun"

Rangiku- "That sounds amazing Shiro! I thought you disapproved of parties and yet here you are organising an epic three day long party."

Shiro- "I disapproved of parties that interfered when you were supposed to be working. Since all of us are now not working on principle I see nothing wrong with having a bit of fun. Besides, those herbal smokes have helped me see that being chilled and relaxed is much better for the soul than my old uptight attitude."

Rangiku- "I have GOT to try some of those herbal concoctions, they sound fanastic. I wouldn't miss this party for anything. I have to say that anyone who fails to show up to this festival will be missing the experience of a lifetime.

Shiro- "You are absolutely right there Rangiku. I suppose I'll be seeing you at the festival"

Rangiku- "You can count on it Shiro"

_The Five Alive festival will be taking place in the Squad five compound two weeks from today and will last approximately three days. The editor of this newspaper will be headlining the main stage on Saturday and all contributors to this publication would like it to be known that anyone who fails to show up to this festival is a total loser._


	10. Strikebreakers

**AN- ok i'd like to apologise in advance, this chapter hasn't got much in the way of humour. this is where things get nasty. I seriously doubt that in a millitaristic society like the seiretei the owers that be would not resort to violence to try and keep control. I put this off for as long as possible, but at some point things had to get brutal, and i find it hard to find much humour in strikebreaking. Hopefully the next chapter will be more fun. I didn't really enjoy writing this but its vital to the plot, and the plausibility (ok this story is a bit implausible but it has internal logic)**

**I don't own bleach and if I said I did nasty men would drag me into dark alleys and beat me up for angering the corporations!**

**Chapter 10- Strikebreakers**

Hanataro and Rin were on their way back from the pub, when the Seiretei establishment struck back. They had decided to go out for a couple of drinks to celebrate how well the strike was going. Looking back they were probably tempting fate. Hanataro had had a few too many, and Rin had had a few more so they were leaning heavily on each other and singing inappropriate songs rather than being alert and prepared for an attack. They were both taken totally by surprise when they found themselves surrounded by about five squad two members. Rin was still giggling and trying not to fall over but Hanataro found himself sobering up rather quickly at the look on the other guys' faces. It was a look he was all too familiar with, and in his experience usually ended with him being beaten up. Then Rin had to go up to one of them and offer them a packet of the more interesting chemicals squad twelve had been trying to sell squad five. Squad two looked horrified, in a lot of ways they took after their Captain. No sense of humour and an obsession with enforcing the rules. Their leader cracked his knuckles and declared

"It's time you maggots learned your proper place in the Seiretei. You've been abandoning your duties and defying the chain of command and look what it's done to this place. Weaklings should accept their place in the natural order of things. Otherwise the whole of society disintegrates"

Later Hanataro would blame it on the alcohol. Certainly talking back wasn't the smartest move he'd ever made, but he just couldn't help himself. "Maybe that's a good thing, because in the society we have, good people's hard work is taken for granted. Maybe shaking it up will lead to the afterlife being a better place to live because right now even you can't claim this is heaven. And if we've got you lot worried enough that it takes a gang of five of you to take us down when we can barely stand we must fucking terrify you. Guess that shows we're not so powerless after all"

The other man's face darkened with anger "You're the ones who should be fucking terrified" he growled, cracking his knuckles.

Hanataro's last clear thought was "Oh shit, now we're really in for it" and then the world exploded with pain.

They were found battered and unconscious an hour later by Lieutenant Kotetsu, her healers training allowed her to overcome her initial horror and shock to rush them back to the squad four picket lines.

Their appearance was a shock to all the strikers. They had been badly beaten. Rin had three broken ribs, extensive bruising and a punctured lung. Hanataro was even worse off, with internal bleeding and a serious head injury as well as three missing teeth. Luckily Lieutenant Kotetsu had found them not too long after the beating and the large numbers of healers on the picket lines were able to fix most of the damage fairly quickly. However the whole thing had a sobering impact on the mood of the strikers, they knew it could have been any of them and now that the supporters of the status quo in the seiretei had begun to fight back against the strike it was likely that more of them would be targeted. Possibly the most terrifying thought was that it could have been a lot worse. The beating had been brutal and without finesse, there was no clear killing intent, but nor was there any concerted effort to avoid fatal injuries. A blow in the wrong place could have killed or crippled either of them, and it was doubtful that there would be any repercussions for the perpetrators. They might even have been acting under the head captains orders and if not then they certainly had his unofficial approval. A few of the strikers started to have second thoughts but they were in too deep now. They knew that whatever they did there would be consequences, so their best chance was to see this through to the end. All the same the mood on the picket line was grim when Hanataro woke. After asking to make sure Rin was ok, he called an emergency strike council.

"Right guys" He cut straight to the chase "I'm sure you all know why I've called this meeting"

There was a murmur of assent

"Firstly I am going to make it abundantly clear we are not going to back down. If we let them win by threatening and attacking us, then who's to say they won't carry on like that when things are back to normal. We can't afford to back down now." There was a rumble of agreement

"But we also can't allow any more strikers to be attacked in this way, so I have thought out a few measures to keep everyone safe. First of all no-one is to go anywhere alone or in a compromised state. If me and Rin hadn't been drunk we might have stood a chance, but we could barely stand let alone defend ourselves. There's nothing wrong with drinking, but if you are drinking then stay in a safe area. Secondly we designate safe zones around all of our picket lines and the meeting room used by the SSA, everyone will take it in turns to patrol these safe zones and stop thugs like those from getting in. Thirdly this is now an occupation. This serves two purposes, not only does it ensure we are all in one defensible location, safety in numbers and all that. It also sends a clear message that attacks on any of our members will result in escalation, that there will be consequences to their attacks. Do I have your support on these measures?" There was a general chorus of yeses.

"Good." He smiled grimly "Can someone send messengers out to the other striking squads with my recommendations. I'm sure they'll agree once they hear what's happened. Oh and tell squad twelve that Rin should be recovered enough to resume his duties by tomorrow."

"Who shall we send?" Ryuu asked, worried about the possibility of the messengers being attacked

"I don't care, send people that are strong enough to defend themselves and send them out in pairs. Aside from that use your judgement."

After the rest of the committee members left, Hanataro allowed himself to feel afraid. Things were going to get messy before all this was over.


	11. Scabs

**ok this update is a bit late and slightly short, but at least it's here. BTW i've discovered the cure for writers block (half a pint of baileys with ice, in case you were wondering) so hopefully things will start going smoothly again. The humour is still slightly lacking from the start of the chapter, but by the end its back in business so don't worry.**

**BTW- I own nothing, the tory govt stole it all and sold it to their mates from the bullingdon club**

**Chapter 11- Scabs**

Honestly Hanataro was surprised it had taken the Head Captain this long. After all he knew that the idea of the strike had been imported from the world of the living, so it would so it would make perfect sense to find out how to break a strike from the world of the living. Hanataro put it down to age and pride. The Head Captain probably felt it was beneath his dignity to seek solutions from the world of the living. Unfortunately Captain Soifon however had no such qualms and had sent the stealth force to gather information of how bosses in the world of the living coped with strikes. As the situation became more desperate she gave a list of suggestions to the head captain. Yamamoto was begrudgingly impressed, he would never have thought of half of this stuff. The first suggestion he had latched onto was the idea of using scabs to do the work of the strikers. And so five and a half weeks in the strikers had a problem.

Hanataro stared glumly at the scabs. They were primarily made up of academy recruits, low ranking nobles, and rukon residents with high reiatsu and low funds. If they'd been on their own they wouldn't have posed much of a problem but clearly the head captain had done his research (or more likely got Soifon to do it for him). The scabs were being guarded by the elite of the punishment force, and the faces of the squad two members were far from sympathetic. The plan was obviously to force their way through the picket line, and they'd come prepared with canisters of one of Mayuri Kurotsuchi's latest inventions, which bore an uncanny resemblance to tear gas, only a fair bit nastier. This was not going to be fun, but they'd held a vote beforehand and there had been almost unanimous agreement that they would stand their ground. It seemed it was time to try out one of squad twelve's new "picket kido" as they'd been calling them. The chief defining characteristic was that they were designed to be cast by large groups of people rather than a single fighter, this not only boosted their power but also added to their stability, and seeing as they had just been developed, hopefully the scabs would have no counter for them.

They all spoke the chant in unison it had taken a lot of practice but they were actually pretty good at it by now.

"Heart of the stone, root of the mountain, bite the sky and steel your soul for the dawn. Teeth of the world, bones of the earth, stand strong and do not shatter, Picket Kido no 10 Daichinokabe" A wall of green light with a rocky sort of texture appeared, blocking the entrance, an instant before the gas canisters reached them. Instead of landing amongst the strikers to cause chaos and destruction, they bounced off the barrier and actually caught the edge of the strikebreaking force, leaving two squad 2 members incapacitated.

After that it all got a bit embarrassing for the punishment force. All their efforts to break through the barrier just sort of bounced off, in ways reminiscent of Tom and Jerry stunts. After a while they stopped to confer. Squad four could faintly hear the sound of increasingly panicked muttering, and see some of their opponents wildly gesticulating in ways that made it clear that they were arguing over who had to go and tell Captain Soifon. Eventually squad four observed one unlucky member of the punishment force draw a short straw and slink off with a terrified look on his face. Shortly afterwards he returned and then left again, this time followed by the rest of his team. The picketers waited a few moments before they breathed a sigh of relief and lowered the barrier. It looked like the efforts to break through were over for the time being, and it wasn't exactly relaxing maintaining that barrier for so long.

Later that night they felt a wild flare of fiery reiatsu coming from the general vicinity of the squad one barracks, clearly the head captain had just found out what happened. Some squad four members would later swear that they could actually hear the head captain ranting furiously about incompetent little weasels and bloody impertinent upstarts. Apparently it was actually quite satisfying knowing they could get a rise out of the miserable old git (no-one actually used those terms anywhere that might possibly be within his hearing, but the sentiment was there). It was also later rumoured that Captain Soifon had commissioned Captain Kurotsuchi to build her a giant meat grinder for the sole purpose of turning the strikers into cat food to feed to Yoruichi (it is speculated that this may constitute some kind of courting gift amongst Captain Soifon's species*). It was also suspected that she had paid him for the device with the promise that she would let him use the squad two members that had been defeated by the strikers as research subjects. Whether these reports were true or not was unconfirmed, but the levels of motivation and work ethic in squad two had suddenly shot up.

*, Captain Soifon's species is currently still a topic for debate although the current consensus in the bars of the seiretei appears to be going with a mutant undercover version of one of those wasps that lay their eggs in the body of their prey so that the victim is devoured from the inside out by the larvae, although there are still a vocal minority that hold with the venomous snake option, on the basis that they also have scary eyes.

**Ok I was horrid to Soifon, i'm sorry, I actually quite like her, I just couldn't resist, she's such a good target.**


	12. Meanwhile in the world of the living

**So a lot of people asked for ichigo and co, so here they are. They aren't hugely involved as of yet but I figured it would be good to see how stuffs affecting them.**

**btw- i own nothing, the banks owned it all and then lost it in some forgotten corner of cyberspace.**

**Chapter twelve- Meanwhile in the world of the living**

Ichigo Kurosaki groaned as yet another hollow appeared. He was not getting paid enough for this. Actually come to think of it he wasn't getting paid at all. Seriously, wasn't there supposed to be a proper soul reaper assigned here, why did he suddenly have to deal with fifty low level hollows a day. It wasn't that any of them were a challenge, there were just so many of them, and they always appeared at the most inconvenient time possible. Last week he'd had to leave Kon to take his maths test for him! (He had later been called into the teacher's office to ask exactly why there were bad drawings of breasts all over his exam paper; he'd nearly died of embarrassment). He despatched the hollow and decided to head over to Urahara's to get some answers, that nutcase knew everything about everyone. He must know what was going on with the soul society. Ichigo suppressed a flicker of excitement at the thought that there might be a new arch enemy for him to take on, he was starting to worry that Kenpachi was rubbing off on him.

Meanwhile Karin Kurosaki stared at the letter in her hand, trying to work out if Toshiro's lieutenant was playing a practical joke on her. She looked again, nope it was in Toshiro's handwriting, he had definitely written it, whether there was some kind of brainwashing involved was another question. She read it again to make sure she wasn't going mad.

"Yo Karin

So Squad five are having a majorly awesome event in like a week, and I figured it would be great if you and your mates from the football team could come along. There will be music and drinks and some interesting herbs that squad five have been growing so it should be a riot. If you come over the night before it all starts and help us set up I should be able to get you backstage passes. BTW don't tell your dad where you're going he'd either stop you or follow you, both of which would be seriously embarrassing.

Lots of love Shiro

PS- bring a tent and plenty of blankets, it gets cold at night"

After a few more moments of consideration she decided the letter was legit and started calling up her friends, while trying to think of a good lie to tell her dad. It was really the only rational response, after all she was a teenager.

Kisuke Urahara was in the middle of an experiment when Ichigo arrived. Ichigo paced for a few minutes before losing patience and slamming his hands down on the table. Kisuke looked up from the microscope and whipped out his fan.

"What's got you so worked up Ichigo"

"What I want to know is why I'm suddenly having to deal with so many hollows. It's getting to the point where Kon spends more time in lessons than I do. Isn't there supposed to be a proper soul reaper taking care of this stuff."

"My, my, Ichigo, you sound a little stressed. Would you like a soothing cup of herbal tea?" Kisuke really couldn't help himself. It was just so much fun winding the poor kid up.

"I want you to tell me what the hell is going on" Ichigo looked furious enough to go bankai if he didn't get some answers soon. Kisuke snapped his fan shut.

"Well basically due to current events in the soul society there is currently no soul reaper assigned to this town. Since they're spread a bit thin they figured you and your friends could deal with the hollows in this area until the situation is resolved"

"I suppose that seems reasonable. I suppose it makes sense to focus on areas without any protection at all." Ichigo found himself nodding in acceptance lulled, by Kisuke's relaxed tone of voice. Then suddenly he rewound that sentence in his head. "Hang on, what do you mean "current events". What exactly is going on in the soul society that means they no longer have the manpower to cover all the areas they need to."

Kisuke put on an expression of mock surprise "Why Ichigo didn't you know? More than half the Soul society is on strike, they want better pay, more respect, more day's off, a better pension plan, the lot. I believe squad twelve want a guarantee that Captain Kurotsuchi not be allowed to experiment on them, and I heard squad thirteen are arguing for the dissolution of central 46. It's absolute chaos over there."

It took a while for Ichigo's brain to process all this, Kisuke could almost see the cogs whirring, before Ichigo suddenly exploded. "And why the hell did no one think of telling me all this! How long has this even been going on for, did anyone even consider that I might want to know what is going on? Or did everyone just think it would be funny to keep me in the dark?"

Kisuke flicked his fan open "Calm down Ichigo. To be honest we all assumed you already knew. Everyone thought someone else must have told you. To tell the truth I'm surprised you didn't hear it from Chad."

"What you mean even Chad knew about this?"

"Well of course Chad knew, he's been over in the soul society helping Renji organise the squad six picket lines for the last week. Apparently his grandfather was really involved with the trade unions in Mexico, so when he heard what was happening he offered to help Renji out. Apparently his grandfather would never have forgiven him if he didn't show solidarity." Ichigo looked stunned

"Am I really the only person who doesn't know what's happening?"

"Well lets see, Chad's helping Renji out, and I think the Visards are sending financial support to squad thirteen. I believe Rukia has been keeping Orihime updated, since Orihime has been doing research on strategy for her, and I heard that Keigo's sister has been knitting socks for squad eleven, no-one really has the heart to tell her they don't need socks. Of course since I've been selling supplies to both sides everyone in this shop knows what's going on." Urahara grinned "So yes it does appear that you are the last to know"

"What about Uryuu" Ichigo asked desparately

"Well as far as I'm aware he and his father have their own sources to keep an eye on what's happening in the soul society. After all the soul reapers are their enemies."

About five weeks earlier, a week after the strike began Uryuu was staring at the report from his sources in the soul society and howling with laughter. Half an hour later he was on the floor, still laughing. An hour later he managed to compose himself, and went around to visit the only other person in the world who would appreciate how hilarious this was. Ryuken opened the door

"Uryuu, what on earth are you doing here?" Uryuu didn't quite feel up to talking, so he just handed him the letter. Ryuken looked at it for a few moments and then reacted exactly as Uryuu had. Ryuken's laughter caused Uryuu to lose control again and it took the rest of the day for the two of them to pull themselves together. They might hate each other's guts but they could both appreciate the situation the soul society was in. Over the next few weeks they effected a partial reconciliation, meeting up once a week to watch video reports on the strike's progress, and then nearly die of laughter.

Ichigo's face was a fascinating mixture of indignation, and depression, Kisuke was actually rather curious as to how he managed to fit both of those expressions onto one face at the same time. "I'm really the only person who doesn't know about this aren't I"

"Yep that sounds about right... no wait your Dad doesn't know about this. As far as I'm aware both sides have been making a concerted effort to keep him out of it. No-one feels able to handle the embarrassment."

"Well that figures. I'm going to go tell Kon, at least then I won't feel like the last person to hear the news." Ichigo said in a gloomy voice

Kisuke coughed nervously "erm about that"

"Seriously, Kon as well!"

"Well he does spend a lot of time with the modsouls here"

"You know what. Screw this, Urahara I need to borrow your underground training room. I feel the irresistible urge to beat the crap out of someone and it might as well be Kon."

"Go right ahead" Kisuke suppressed a sigh of relief, at least the kid hadn't blown his shop apart, if he had to throw Kon to the lions (bad pun intended) then that was a price he was willing to pay.

**BTW- before people have a go at me, i'm picturing Karin and Yuzu as being around 16 in this story so they're plenty old enough to go underage drinking and partying (although Yuzu probably won't)**

**And yes Ichigo is totally out of the loop. I just thought it would be funny if he had no idea what was going on because everyone assumed someone else told him.**


	13. Banners, placards and flyposting

**Ok guys i'm really sorry it's been so long. I have no excuse, i must try harder. I hope you enjoy this anyway.**

**BTW- I own nothing, anyone else who tries to use nothing or in any way refers to or accepts the concept of nothing is in breach of copyright and will be sued for a million billion pounds.**

**Chapter 13- Banners, placards and flyposting**

Renji grinned as he put the finishing touches on the poster he was making. This one was for Rukia's Squad thirteen rebels so he had drawn a picture of Chappy wearing a red bandana and throwing a Molotov. He had a feeling Rukia was going to like this one. The Squad Six strikers had been putting their calligraphy and art skills to good use over the last few weeks, churning out banners, flyers, posters and placards for every group of strikers. The general consensus was that they were very good at their new hobby, but Renji still figured a bit of outside expertise couldn't hurt. That's why when Chad had offered to come over and help out he'd jumped at the opportunity.

He looked up and down the street in slight concern. Chad was late. Before Renji could get seriously worried however, Chad appeared, and made his way over.

"Hi"

"Hi, I got worried when I saw you were late. Did you get held up?" Renji enquired

"Urahara got a bit carried away with the theatrics, so we fell behind schedule."

"Well that figures" Renji grinned, "So what does he think of all this anyway?"

"I believe he said something about wonderful business opportunities. He also said to tell you that next time you freeload at his place he's going to have you making flyers for him."

Renji decided it would be best to change the subject, before he heard any more of Urahara's bright ideas. "So you said you knew about this stuff. I could do with some suggestions cause we're basically flying blind here."

"Yeah, my Abuelo was pretty active with the unions in Mexico so I picked a few things up. You seem to be doing pretty well though. The banners are particularly good."

"So is there anything else we could be doing to make all this work better?"

"Well you could try doing some flyposting."

"Flyposting?" Renji queried.

"Yeah. Basically you just put up loads of posters really quickly. It takes three people, one to paint glue onto the wall, one to stick the posters down and one to keep lookout. It works for all kinds of things but in this case you would want to be publicising the strike. You could also try sending some of the younger members out at night with cans of spray paint to graffiti squad one's barracks. Me and my friends used to do that in Mexico sometimes, I nearly got arrested a few times."

Renji was slightly taken aback by Chad's uncharacteristic talkativeness, but was quick to note down his suggestions. "So I take it you would be open to going with me and a couple of others on a graffiti expedition. I figure the first run should be by people who've done it before, and I know for a fact that I and a couple of others from the lower Rukon have some experience."

"Sure, sounds good."

It was later that night that Renji and Chad, along with two lower seats from the poorer parts of the Rukon, crept out of the barracks. They each had a rucksack full of spraypaint and stencils. They had decided to split up. One pair would go for squad one while the other would have the task of trying to out-sneak the stealth force. Neither Renji or Chad were particularly known for their stealth so they had to risk the wrath of the Head Captain.

They worked quickly and quietly, covering the Squad one barracks in slogans and symbols. Just before sunrise they started to creep slowly away. They were halfway back to the picket line when they felt a massive burst of spirit energy and knew that the head captain had discovered their handiwork. Later squad members the other side of the Sereitei would swear blind that they heard the Head Captain howling in fury "Impudent vandals, how dare they, they will die by my sword for their disrespect. All things in the universe turn to ashes Ryujin Jakka!". After that incident Squad one was reduced to sleeping in tents, a few of the lower ranked members surreptitiously made their way over to squad eleven to ask for tips on how to put up their tents, and one thing led to another with a large number of squad one members getting drunk with squad eleven and waking up in squad five territory the next morning with no-idea how they got there. The Head Captain was not impressed, and his temper led more to more than a few of the wayward members defecting to join the strikers.

Overall Renji and Chad agreed that project "graffiti squad one" had been a success, although not exactly in the way they had planned. The flyposting had also gone well, and had been especially good for boosting their diminishing funds, up until the point where Captain Soifon had started sending out patrols specifically to catch flyposters. The graffiti artists however were still going strong, by now the whole squad six barracks was a riot of colour as squad members tried out their designs on the nearest bit of wall. When the walls ran out they started on each other and soon every squad member was wearing some amount of face paint. The overall effect was as though a class of university art students had been given a load of paints and some of squad fours more interesting products and let loose. It actually kind of worked, in a psychedelic sort of way. To be honest most squad six members hadn't had this much fun in years, and there were plans to set up arts and crafts workshops at squad five's upcoming festival. Many of the other squads, especially five had started taking their cues from six when it came to fashion and decoration with the result that the striker controlled parts of the sereitei were becoming instantly recognisable. Even Hanataro the unofficial leader of all thing strike related had been spotted wearing face paint, and after that everyone was at it.

**Right so seeing as people seem to like this story and i've been having a lot of fun writing it i've been thinking of doing another strikefic. The question is do I wait until this one is finished or do I alternate with this one. The other question is, what program/book/whatever else should I do it for. I'm open to suggestions but if I a. don't know the program or b. don't think it will work with that program then I won't do it. **


	14. Party Planning

**AN- Ok I know it's been a while, I have no excuse, I just lacked insipiration. I hope this makes up for it a bit. Sorry.**

**PS- I own nothing, realitity is a figment of our imagnations and therefore nothing exists in order to be owned.**

**Chapter 14- Party Planning.**

_It was the night before Squad Five's much anticipated party was set to begin, around half the Soul Society had been eagerly looking forward to it while the rest saw it as a sign of the impending apocalypse. Rumour had it that Lieutenant Sasakibe had spiked the Head Captain's tea with sleeping pills to keep him from going into meltdown, and Captain Soifon squad had been busy barricading their barracks against the oncoming storm._

Meanwhile in the world of the living Karin Kurosaki was busy attempting to sneak out of her bedroom window without getting caught.

"Oi Karin, what do you think your doing up there?" Karin froze, then relaxed slightly, it was Ichigo not her Dad. There was still a chance she could get away clean.

"Would you believe me if I said I was just going for a walk?"

"A walk?" he said flatly, "And what is the backpack in aid of?"

"If you really want to know, I'm trying to sneak away to go to the festival in the Soul Society, without waking up Dad and being subjected to hours of his wailing about his baby girl trying to abandon him, before having him follow me there to make sure I don't get corrupted."

"Ok, I can kinda see your point there. But why didn't you tell me?"

"Why would I? I'm sixteen, a friend invited me to a party, I don't have to tell my big brother everything I'm doing. It's not like you were exactly open about your hobbies at my age."

"Fair point. Question, Why wasn't I invited?"

"You'll have to take that one up with your friends, but I suspect they've all assumed someone else already invited you. Now I'm off, all my friends are waiting." She was gone before Ichigo processed that last statement. As he realized the implications he shouted after her.

"Don't tell me you're taking ordinary humans to a party in the Soul Society."

Back in the Soul Society, Ganju Shiba suspected he'd bitten off more than he could chew. When he'd volunteered to set up and run a radio station as a favour to Hanataro, he'd had no idea how much work it would be. He'd still have done it of course, but he might have insisted on more assistants. They'd finally managed to get the transmitters and recording studio set up. After three days of trying to figure out the instruction manual he'd finally given up and hired a polish builder. It was actually quite humiliating how easily they were able to put it together. Still now the equipment was all set up all they had to do was assign roles. So everyone involved with the project was now sitting around an oblong table, ready to do battle to the death to avoid having to do the weather.

"Ok first up, who wants to do the sport?" The whole table looked like they were about to raise their hands, but quickly sat on them when Kukkaku raised hers. If Kukkaku Shiba wanted to do the sport none of them was going to be stupid enough to challenge her. Ganju ran through the jobs, selecting randomly when there were no applicants, and making the hopefuls play rock, paper, scissors when a role was over-subscribed. Yumichika ended up in charge of the fashion program, while Rangiku was running celebrity gossip. Yoruichi got current events and political news, while Ganju appointed himself as head DJ, and somehow Kisuke Urahara ended up as both their science consultant and their international correspondent. Various other roles were also parcelled out and while plenty of people weren't too happy about the jobs they were given, none of them was unhappy enough to walk out and piss off Kukkaku Shiba.

Over in Squad Five, Party preparations were well underway. Two of the stages, the chillout area, and around half the stalls had already been set up, and the building of the portable, eco-friendly toilets was almost complete. Toshiro and Momo were helping set up the main stage, with varying amounts of success.

"Connect beam A to socket B and use a number four screw to stabilise. Where the fuck is socket B, and what the hell does a number four screw look like?"

"Calm down Shiro, look see here's a diagram with a picture of all the components. It's really not that hard."

"Yes it really is" he shouted in frustration "Who designed these things anyway?"

"Shiro" She warned in a steely voice

"Ok right, I've got to chill, it's all good" Toshiro, quickly backtracked. He took a deep breath "Ok, so we have to connect these two pieces here, right."

A couple of hours later they looked at their creation.

"You know, I think we may have gone wrong somewhere" Momo said in a slightly dazed voice

"It does look a bit… strange, doesn't it?" Toshiro responded, unable to tear his eyes away from the construction.

"What is it?" She wondered aloud.

"I suspect it may be the result of one of Kurotsuchi's mad experiments, crossing a medieval catapult with a steam engine and then building an aircraft landing strip on top of the result."

"Please don't tell me we're going to have to start all over again."

"We could just say it's a statement declaring our opposition to the restrictive and unimaginative traditional form of stage building and that it's designed to free the imaginations of the observers by attacking conventional ideas of aesthetics." Toshiro had been reading far too many coffee table art books.

Momo responded with uncharacteristic bluntness "Is that a fancy way of saying it's as ugly as fuck?"

"Yep" he grinned

"Sounds perfect, let's set up the speakers." After all, there's only so much instruction reading its possible to do, even when you are one with the universe.


	15. Sound checks

**OK really sorry it's been so long. I have no excuse, i'm just lazy and easily distracted. I'm thinking the next chapter may be in the form of a radio broadcast, focusing on the big headline grabbing events, with the following chapter set at the same time but focused more on individual festival goers experience. I'm not entirely happy with this chapter but I somehow needed to get everyone in position for the big party. **

**BTW fair warning in this story everyone ends up using some kind of drugs at some point except the establishment i.e. Soifon and the Head Captain. If you don't like it tough, i'm for legalisation, drugs are cool as long as you know what you're doing and don't take it too far. **

**Oh and yes Karin and her friends are underage drinking, they're teenagers that's what teenagers do. Ichigo and friends are over 18 in this story so they're legal, at least where I come from. I'm not advocating breaking the law (unless you really want to) :), i'm just trying to project the right festival atmosphere (loud music, strong cider, good drugs and sunny weather)**

**Chapter 15- Sound checks**

As the first day of the festival dawned, Shuhei felt like he might be in a bit too deep. How was he supposed to report on the festival at the same time as he headlined. He winced as he heard the sound of Chad's bass guitar accompanied by a wave of static. Right he definitely needed to find someone else to do the reporting. He had enough on his plate. He glanced around for an easy target, and spotted a head of orange hair. Bingo.

Ichigo was seriously pissed off. How was it that his little sisters had an invite to the festival and he didn't? Why did he have to find out by following his sisters to see where they were sneaking off to so late at night? And now to make matters worse, he had completely lost track of them. They could be anywhere, doing God knows what. Just as he pulled himself together to try and find them an voice interrupted his train of thought.

"Hey there Ichigo"

"Hi Shuhei"

"Great festival isn't it"

"Um yeah but…"

"Hey do you fancy writing the news report on the festival for the SSN. You know, talk about the bands, review the facilities, that sort of thing. It'll really help get your name out there." Shuhei bulldozed over him.

"Well…"

"Fantastic, I'm expecting great things from you. Here's your reporter's pass, and a camera, don't forget to get a couple of good shots." Shuhei grinned before disappearing.

"But…" Ichigo stared at the space where Shuhei had been standing. Great, now he'd managed to land himself with a job that he was fairly sure he wasn't going to get paid for, and he still had no idea where anyone was. Another loud burst of static followed by a bassline blared out from the speakers. Wait a minute, Ichigo narrowed his eyes. Was that Chad on the stage? And Renji, Renji played drums? Seriously? Right, he was going over there to get some explanations if it killed him.

About an hour later he'd finally managed to reach the stage only to find his way blocked by Ikkaku.

"Come on Ikkaku, we're friends. We've had good fights haven't we? Let me in. I just need to talk to Chad and Renjii."

"Sorry man, but I can't let people in just because they're my mates. I've got a job to do here."

"I just saw you let Yumichika in."

"He has a pass"

"What?"

"He's doing the costumes and makeup, so he's got a backstage pass."

Uryuu then walked by waving a card. Ichigo scowled.

"Seriously, you just let Uryuu through. Aren't Quincies and soul reapers meant to be mortal enemies?"

"Yeah, but we needed him to be in charge of costumes. Otherwise we would have had to let Rukia do it." Ikkaku shuddered.

"So you're seriously not going to let me in."

"Sorry, unless you've got a backstage pass, I can't let you through." Suddenly Ichigo remembered, his reporter's pass.

"Hang on, I don't suppose this would get me through would it?" Ikkaku looked at it for a moment.

"Access all areas. Why the hell didn't you show me that from the start." Ichigo looked faintly embarrassed.

"I kinda forgot about it"

"Seriously? Oh well, anyway, go on through. Let me just say for the record that I reckon your strike coverage is spot on. I hope you lot keep up the good work." As he walked through the gate Ichigo figured he really should try and get hold of a copy of the newspaper he was meant to be working for.

Meanwhile, Karin and her friends along with most of squad eleven were busy setting up tents, with Yachiru acting as foreman. In retrospect that probably wasn't the smartest division of labour. But given squad eleven's recent experience with tents it had seemed logical for them to help out. The trouble was that Yachiru had found out and decided to help.

"Ok then you put pole A, through loop B on the sparkly tent, no wait, I think it might be loop C. No wait, this is the wrong instruction book, you actually put pole number 6, through loop X on the army green tent. Or was that…" The rest of her squad groaned, while Karin and her friends attempted to follow the signals Yuzu was making while reading over Yachiru's shoulder, with limited success. It didn't take long for someone to suggest they take a break, and of course the inevitable happened when someone produced a joint. Several hours later and they were no closer to putting the tents up, but they felt a lot closer to achieving harmony with all creation, and to working out how to play a whole series of Bob Dylan songs on the acoustic guitar.

Renji and Chad had just finished their sound checks so Ichigo took the opportunity to waylay them for an interview. By this point he'd managed to forget why he was so pissed off and had started really getting into his new job as a reporter.

"So Renji, Chad, what's it like being a rock star?"

"Well it's kinda cool man, y'know, it's good to be able to connect with so many people on such a deep and meaningful level." Renji took another swig of his beer

"Yeah, plus the drugs are good."Chad added, shocking Ichigo. How could his best friend be taking drugs and not offer to share them with him? He decided to let it slide, and convince Chad to share later. Wincing at the high pitched whine of the mic as Shuhei tested his he forged ahead with the interview.

"So are you looking forward to tonight?"


End file.
